Recording mechanism.



C. l. HALL.-

RECOHDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION men n.3, 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

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Attorneys C. I. HALL.

RECORDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED m4.3.19u.

Patented Dec.12,1916.

5 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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(I. I. HALL.

RECORDING MECHANISM.

APPucmok man um. 3. Ian.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

5 S HEETSSHEET 3.

C. I. HALL.

RECORDING MECHANISM;

APPLICATION men mm, 19!!- Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

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RECORDING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED lAN- 3. IBM.

Patented D60. 12, 1916.

5 sums-sum 5.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHESTER I. HALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO CHICAGO ELECTRIC METER COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATIONOF ILLINOIS.

Application filed January 3. 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHESTER I. HALL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the countyofCookand State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Recording Mecha nisms, of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to printing attachments for power watt meters. Itis useful in connection with the so-called Chicago system of sellingelectric power in which there is an annual demand or primary chargewhich covers all fixed charges on the investment in that portion of thecentral station system which is actually used by the particular consumerand which primary charge is based on the greatest watt-hour demand inthe year. In addition to this demand charge there is-an output orsecondary charge at a fixed rate per kilowatt hour to cover fuel, laborand other operating expenses, and which charge is based on the totalregistration at the end of each month.

It is apparent that an instrument for measuring with great accuracy thegreatest one hour-demand in the year is oftheutmost importance. 1

My invention is intended to secure an automatic measurement and recordof the hourly demand, and from the record thus obtained it is possibleto determine the greatest one hour demand in the year. The device may,however, and frequently is used in various other connections where themaximum demand is desired for purposes of fixing the rate, and in suchcases, as also in the case where the Chicago method is' em-- ployed, itis often desirable to record the demand for periods of less than onehours duration. Thus it may be desired to secure an accurate record ofthe watt meter reading as oftenasonce in every half hour or once everyfifteen minutes, or ten minutes, or five minutes, as the case may be..My present invention is designed to meet these requirements and toprovide an instrument in which the watt meter reading will beautomatically recorded with great accuracy at the end of every fiveminute period or at the end of any multiple of five minutes up to aperiod of one hour.

Specification of Letters Patent.

RECORDING MECHANISM.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

Serial No. 600,426.

My invention comprises a clock-driven controller which serves to closean electric circuit for a period of time at the end of every such periodfor which the record is to be made. The circuit controlled by this clockmechanism leads to an electromagnetic device which, when energized,causes the reading of a set of numeral wheels to be printed upon a stripof paper which is automatically fed between them and anassociated-platen. The actuation of the numeral wheels is controlled bya watt meter, there being provided in conjunction with the watt meter asmall commutator or cir cuit closer'which controls the energization ofan 'electromagnet adapted by actuation to advance the printing wheels.The result of the combination is, therefore, that the watt metercontrols the advancement of the printing wheels, whereas the clockcontrols the time at which the impressions are made upon the recordstrip of paper. In conjunction with the watt printing wheels there is atype wheel for printing the hour at which the impressions are made. Itis ordinarily unnecessary to print the minutes at which the readings areprinted, because with. the hourly indications printed in conjunctionwith the watt meter readings it is a simple matter to interpolate tolearn the time at which any intermediate record is printed.

The particular features of my present invention will more clearly appearfrom a consideration of the details. In order to direct' attentionparticularly to the features of my present invention, I will enumeratecertain advantageous features as follows: All of the mechanism forcontrolling the closure c of the time circuit is driven from the quillon the hand side of the friction of a clock movement, thus making itpossible to set the time of the circuit closing mechanism merely bysetting the hands of the clock. Furthermore, all of the clock-drivencircuit-controlling mechanism is made up in the form of a self-containedunit wheel which is easily fastened to a standard is shipped. Thecircuit-controlling mechanism is so arranged as not to interfere withthe time keeping or indicating function of the clock and the device,therefore, becomes a very convenient powerhouse accessory in that thetime of day is indicated by the ordinary clock hands. Thecircuit-controlling switch of the clock-driven mechanism is arranged torequire a minimum of power. The contacts are, however, arranged in sucha way as to have a quick and wide break, thereby reducing arcing andconsequent burning of contacts to a minimum. These contacts are arrangedto wipe over one another, thereby keeping them bright. The contacts arearranged in such a way as to insulate the clock movement from theelectric circuit. Notwithstanding this arrangement, however, thecontacts may be adjusted to confine the arcing and burning to one of thepair of contacts which are periodically broken in the operation of thedevice. Although the contact mechanism of the time circuit-controller isso delicate that such an extremely small amount of power as is a vailable from a clock will drive it, still the snap action of the switchpoints when opening the circuit is so successful that no condenser isneeded to bridge the gap and thus to out down the arcing. This, ofcourse, elfects a considerable saving in the cost of the apparatus whenmanufactured in quantities. The time circuit-controlling apparatus beingreadily detached from the clock, may be shipped in for repairs ifneeded, a duplicate clock attachment having been sent to the customer toreplace the device which must needs undergo repairs. This is a greatconvenience because it saves the shipment of large and bulky clockmechanism which is almost certain to get out of time-keeping adjustmentin transit.

Another feature of advantage resides in the arrangement of thecircuit-controlling mechanism in conjunction with the printing mechanismper 86 whereby it becomes a very simple matter to adjust both mechanismsin conformity with one another to print a rec- 0rd once each hour oronce each half hour or once each five, ten, fifteen or twenty minutes,as may be desired.

lVithout attempting now to point out the several advantageous featuresof my invention, I shall proceed to a more detailed description, havingreference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 illustratesdiagrammatically the electrical circuits and the electromagnetscontrolled thereby; Fig. 2 represents a similarly diagrammaticrepresentation of the electrical circuits and electromagnets wherebatteries are utilized as the source of electrical power for driving theprinting and recording mechanism; Fig. 3 is a front view of the clockand associated circuit-controlling mechanism; Fig. 4: is a side view ofthe circuit-controlling attachment to the clock; Fig. 5 is a detailtaken in cross section just behind the fiber disk of the snap switch andshowing the action of the switch contacts when released; Fig. 6 is asectional detail showing the construction and manner of mounting therotary switch member of the time circuit-controller; Fig. 7 is a view infront elevation of the printing attach-- ment per 80,- Fig. 8 is a topview of the same; Fig. 9 is a partial view in front elevation, some ofthe parts having been removed, however, by a cross-sectional cut taken alittle back of the front plates of the numeralwheel frame; Fig. 10 is afragmentary view in central cross section to show the action of thenumeral wheels and platen in printing the watt meter readings; and Fig.11 is a central cross'sectional view illustrating the mounting of thealternating switch mechanism associated with the electromagnet foractuating the watt indicating numeral wheels.

Like characters of reference are applied to corresponding parts in allof the figures.

It will perhaps simplify the understanding of the more complicatedmechanism if at the outset I refer to the diagrammatic circuit drawingof Fig. 1. In this drawing the spindle of a watt meter is indicated at11. This watt meter in turn drives the small and delicate commutator 12,this being associated with a brush 13 riding on a slip ring connectedwith the commutator segment or segments and also with a pair ofalternating brushes 14: and 15. The brush 13 is connected with one ofthe service mains A, and the energizing circuit of the numeral wheelactuating magnet 16 is connected to the other service wire B. Thecircuit of the electromagnet 16 leads through a brush 17 to thesaw-toothed connector disk 18. It will be noted that the alternate teethof this disk are undecut', and this for the following reason: Thebrushes 19 and 20 are adapted to engage the faces of the teeth wherethey are not thus undercut. If, now, we trace the circuit from the mainA, we shall find that it may lead from brush 13 through the commutatorto brush 1 1, thence to the brush 20 on the printing attachment, thusthrough the contact disk 18 to the brush 17, and thus through thenumeral wheel actuating magnet 16 to the negative main B. The closure ofthis circuit will energize the electromagnet 16 to advance the numeralwheels (diagrammatically shown at cl) one step. The contact disk 18being associated with the units numeral wheel, is simultaneouslyadvanced. Wherefore, the circuit previously traced from the brush 20through the face of a tooth of the contact disk 18 is broken. At thesame time a circuit is closed between the brush 19 and the face of thetooth thus brought into engagement with it. The circuit of theelectromagnet 16 is not, however, completed until the commutator segment12 is rotated by the watt meter into engagement with the brush 15. Atthis instant, however, the circuit of the electromagnet 16 is againclosed to advance the numeral wheels and simultaneously to advance thecontact disk 18 into position where the circuit through the brush 19 isopened.

The electromagnet indicated at 20 is adapted when energized to force theplaten 21 into engagement with the paper strip 22, thus bringing it intosharp contact with the type wheels, a typewriter ribbon r intervening tocause the impression to be made in color upon the paper. The circuit ofthis electromagnet is, in the arrangement of Fig. 1, controlled by thecontacts 23, 24 and 25 of a relay whose electromagnet 26 is controlledby the time-controlling contacts diagrammatically shown at 27 and 28.This diagrammatic representation of these clockcontrolled contacts doesnot correspond very closely with the actual mechanism, but the diagramwill surffice to show that when the clock indicated by the dotted line29 brings the contacts 27 and 28 into engagement with one another, theelectromagnet 26 is energized to close the circuit of the printingmagnet 20, thus causing the platen to come into play to print upon thepaper strip the ular instant.

reading of the numeral wheels at the partic- Thus, in a general way,will be apparent the operation of the apparatus of my invention. Thewatt meter by its commutator controls the advancement of the wattprinting numeral wheels. The clock controls the closure of the timecircuit to regulate the actuations of the platen to print the readingsof the numeral wheels upon the record strip.

The circuit shown in Fig. 2 corresponds in a general way with thatalready de scribed. However, in this case a set of batteries 30 isprovided to supply the power for actuating the printer magnet 20 and thenumeral wheel magnet 16, and since the current delivered by the batteryis not a heavy one, the contacts 27 and 28 suflice to control theprinter magnet circuit directly rather than through the agency of arelay as shown in Fig. 1.

Coming now to the details of the clockdriven circuit-controller, weshall make particular reference to Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive. Here astandard clock movement is indicated at 31. The power springs, geartrains, balance wheel and regulating mechanism are not shown, as theseparts have no connection with my present invention. It will sufficetherefore to sa that the uniform movement of the clocz train isdelivered through the spindle 32. A clock friction 33 intervenes betweenthis spindle and the minute hand spindle 34. The hour hand quill 35 ismounted upon the minute hand spindle and connected by the ordinarytwelve-to-one gearing with the minute hand spindle. The intermediategear and pinion 86 is the point of connection for the circuitcontrollingunit which I have described as a self-contained attachment to be securedto the clock which is to be put into the service of my invention. Thevital feature of the switch is the double involute disk 37 of brass orother suitable metal riveted to the double involute disk 38 of fiber orother insulating material. The center of the metal involute is cut outso as not to engage the metal hub 39 of the fiber disk. There is aslight angular displacement between the tips of the metal disk and theassociated fiber disk, with the result that the fiber disk protects therim of the metal disk except at the diametrically opposite points atwhich the tips of the metal project beyond the tips of the fiber.

A block 40 of insulating material serves as a mount for the pivotedlever contacts 41 and 42. These contacts are each provided with a lightspring tending to swing them inwardly toward the involute disks. Eachcontact,

furthermore, has a projection bent at right angles to the body of thecontact, the projections riding upon the rim of the fiber disk exceptwhen. the tips of the latter reach points at which the ends of thecontact levers drop off and onto the projecting tips of the metal disk.When this occurs an electric circuit is closed between the two levercontacts. This circuit continues closed until one or the other leverdrops off the tip of metal and onto the rim of insulating material. Theparts are so adjusted that they contact 41 drops off the tip of themetal just slightly in advance of the contact 42, wherefore the arcingand burning is confined to the lever contact 41, which alone serves tobreak the circuit.

The right-angled upper end of the lever contact 42 is slightly extendedto carry a bushing 43 of insulating material. This bushing is adapted tobe engaged by the depending arm of the bell crank lever 43. Thehorizontal arm of this lever is provided with a cam surface 44 adaptedto be engaged in succession by the pins numbered 10, 20, 30, 40, and inthe face of the minute plate 45. This minute plate is pivoted on asuitable stud carried by the back plate 46 of the circuit-controllingattachment. A pinion 47 is brought into mesh with the gear of theintermediate idler between the minute and hour hands of the clock, andthe minute plate is mounted upon the hub with this pinion 47 Theperiphery of the minute plate is gear cut to mesh with the pinion 48which causes the rotation of the involute F disks of the switchingmember. The gear ratios are such that the involute disks make sixrevolutions during one revolution of the minute plate. The minute plateis provided with a set of twelve equally spaced machine screw holes, andinto these holes may be screwed one or more of the pins numbered 10, 20,30, 40, etc. In the drawing all of the twelve pins are in place in theminute plate. The result of the clockwise rotation of the minute plateis to cause the pin marked 10 to engage the cam surface 4% of the bellcrank lever, thus rotating this bell crank in a clockwise directionagainst the tension of a comparatively stiff spring mounted on the pivotof the lever. The depending lever 4:3 being swung to the left, thecontact lever 42 is permitted to drop down into engagement with theperiphery of the involute disks. hen, therefore, the involute disks haverotated to a point at which the tips of the fiber pass the right angleprojections on the contact levers, the latter will drop into engagementwith the tips of the brass disk as previously explained to close thecircuit. Such will be the operation whenever a pin in the minute plateis driven against the cam surface 4A of the bell crank lever. If, say,the pin marked No. 10 were withdrawn from the minute plate, then thebell crank lever would not be rocked to permit the contact lever 42 tocome into engagement with the involute disks. Under such circumstancescircuit would not be closed notwithstanding the rotation of the involutedisks. Vhile the contact lever 41 would drop down into engagement withthe metal tip of the involute disk at one side, the circuit would remainopen at the diametrically opposite side. The springs on the contactlevers ll and 42 are very light indeed, thereby reducing friction to aminimum, and in so far as the lever 42 is concerned lightness of itsspring permits the bell crank lever 43, acting under the tension of itsspring, to hold the lever out of engagement with the involute disks.

It will be noted that the tips of the metal involute are considerablyundercut and the right-angling ends of the contact levers are skewed insuch a way that when the contact lever drops over the tip of theinvolute a wide, quick gap will be formed to prevent the formation of anare which might continue the circuit and cause the contacts to bedestroyed in but a short time.

It will be apparent that if all twelve of the pins are screwed into theminute plate, the circuit controlled by the switch mechanism will beclosed once in every five minutes, the gear ratios being such as tocause a complete revolution of the involute disks once in every tenminutes and such also as to bring a hole in the minute plate intojuxtaposition with the cam a l once in every five minutes. By omittingalternate pins from the minute plate the circuit closure will beeflected once in every ten minutes. If every third pin is inserted inthe minute plate the circuit will be closed every fifteen minutes. Ifbut two diametrically opposite pins remain in the plate, the circuitwill be closed every half hour. If the circuit is to be closed but onceeach hour, a single pin will be screwed into the minute plate. It willbe apparent that the pins may be inserted so as to cause the closure ofthe circuit at any recurring periods which may be desired within thelimits of the mechanism.

It will be understood that the switch mechanism shown in Fig. 3 isdiagrammatically illustrated at 27 and 28 in Figs. 1 and 2, and thatwhere the relay is used these contacts marked 41 and 4-2 in conjunctionwith the involute disk 37 will serve to control the energizing circuitof the relay magnet 26. The contacts of this relay are mounted upon theshell of the electromagnet proper as shown. As in the diagrammaticfigures, the contacts are marked in Fig. 3 with the reference characters23, 24 and 25. The plunger of the electro-magnet of the relay ispermitted to rotate, whereby various parts of the circular contact 2aare brought successively into engagement with the stationary contacts 23and 25. Thus the wear due to friction and to sparking is distributedover considerable area with corresponding durability to the device as awhole.

Coming now to the mechanism for printing the record of watts and time,we turn to Figs. 7 to 11, inclusive. We shall consider first the numeralwheels and the mechanism for actuating them to correspond with theoperation of the watt meter. The circuit having been traced it willsuffice to say that the electromagnet 16 of the diagrammatic figures isindicated at 16 in Figs. 7 and 8. This electromagnet is intermittentlyenergized as controlled by the rotation of the watt meter mechanism.Upon energization the armature lever 50 is attracted to throw the pushrod 51 toward the left. Fig. 9 best illustrates the form of the dog atthe end of this rod which engages the teeth of a ratchet wheel 52 tocause the step by step advancement of the watt type wheels. The motionis delivered from the ratchet wheel 52 through a pinion 53 to theintermediate gear 54, which meshes with a gear wheel 55 secured to theface of the units type wheel 56.

The type wheels with their carry-over mechanism will be understood fromthe drawing without further description. The contact wheel 18, withalternately undercut teeth, is mounted along side the gear wheel 52, towhich it is attached by insulated connections, as best illustrated inFig. 11. In

view of the description given in connection with Fig. 1, it will. beunnecessary to refer more in detail to the mechanical construction andmode of operation of the brushes 19 and 20 and the contact Wheel withwhich they cooperate. It will be apparent from the description and fromthe construction illustrated that the type wheels will be advancedthrough the agency of electromag netic mechanism to represent the powerconsumption in watt hours.

The mechanism for printing the indication of the type wheels upon thepaper strip comprises an electromagnet 60 with its core 61, theretracting spring 62, adjustable washer and lock nut 63, the platen 6 1carried on the end of the rod extending from .the core of the solenoid.When the magnet is energized the platen is pushed sharply up Ward towardthe type wheels. The paper strip is passed over a sheet metal guide 65and the platen passes through an opening in this guide to engage thepaper. The paper is wound upon a roller 66 under the action of the pawland ratchet mechanism so fully shown that description is unnecessary,except possibly to say that the lever pivoted at 67 is rocked in acounter-clockwise direction when the solenoid is energized. The returnof the plunger of the magnet 60 causes a one step advancement of theroller. The roller 68 carries the strip of paper on which theimpressions are to be made.

A slot 69 in the front plate 70 serves, in connection with a small screwpin 71, to guide the platen and to prevent rotation around the axis ofthe solenoid. A lever 72 is pivoted at 73. The idler end of the lever isforked at 74 to engage the screw pin 71, whereby the oscillation of thelever 72 is effected upon the reciprocation of the plunger of thesolenoid. It is the purpose of this lever 72 to control the advancementof the type wheel for printing the hours at which the several watt typewheel readings are printed upon the paper strip. The lever is thereforeprovided with a pivoted dog 75 which cooperates with the ratchet teethof the pin wheel 76 to cause the step-by-step rotation of the latter.The pin wheel is provided with twelve screw holes into which may bescrewed any desired number of screw pins 77. A rotatably mounted starwheel 78 is provided with an associated pinion adapt ed to engage theteeth of the gear wheel 79 which, together with a positioning wheel 80,is attached to the side of the hour printing type wheel 81. A dog 82cooperates with the teeth of the positioning wheel 80 to aline theraised numerals on the periphery of the hour type wheel 81. The loweredge of the hour type wheel 81 is on a line with the lower edges of thefive watt type wheels, as indicated in Fig. 10, the result being thatthehours 1 to 24, inclusive, will be printed in conjunction with each wattmeter reading. The operation is as follows: As the platen is raised dueto the energization of the electromagnet 60, the pawl 75, carried on theend of the lever 72, is dropped down slightly more than the space of onetooth on the periphery of the pin wheel 76. Therefore, upon the returnof the solenoid plunger to its normal position, the pawl 75 returns toadvance the pin wheel 7 6 one space, the pawl 83 having cooperated ofcourse to prevent the back rotation of the pin wheel. The screw pins 77engage the teeth of the star wheel to cause the admncement of the hourtype wheel. The one step advancement of the pin wheel 76 advances thehour type wheel through the space of one hour, as represented by thetype on the periphery of the wheel. If, therefore, the solenoid isenergized at the end of each hour, the full quota of twelve screw pinsshould be inserted in the pin wheel to cause an advancement of the hourtype wheel immediately following each energization of the magnet 60. Thetype wheel bearing numbers from 1 to 21 may be set to print the hours atwhich the several readings are recorded. If, on the other hand, thesolenoid 60 is energized at the end of every five minutes, then all butone pin will be removed from the pin wheel 76, with the result that onlythe last of the twelve energizations during the hour will cause theadvancement of the hour type wheel. The impressions printed onthe tapewill therefore have the hour printed opposite the reading which is takenon the hour. The eleven printed readings which intervene before the nexthour is reached will be printed with the same hour appearing oppositeeach such reading. The result as printed on the tape will, however, beclearly intelligible to one familiar with the operation of the device.He will know that the watt meter reading which appears opposite thefirst impression of the hour 3 is the reading which was taken exactly onthat hour. He will know that the next reading appearing opposite thehour 3 will have been made at five minutes after three; the next one at3:10; the next one at 3 :15, etc. If the magnet 60 is energized at otherintervals, as for example ten, fifteen, twenty or thirty minutes, thepins will be arranged correspondingly in the pin wheel 76, wherefore thehour type wheel will in any instance be advanced to the next position assoon as the last reading within the preceding hour has been recorded. t

For convenience, the spindle upon which. the hour type wheel is mountedis provided with a pointer or hand 84: which, in conjunction with thedial 85 upon the face of the instrument serves to indicate the positionof the hour type wheel and roughly also the time of day. This device isof'convenience in setting the hour type wheel to print the correct hourat any given time.

In order that the type wheels may print a colored impression upon thepaper strip, I provide a typewriter ribbon 86 which passes from thesupply roller 87 across the face of the type wheels, where it is Woundupon the intake roller 88 under the action of the pawland-ratchetmechanism controlled by the lever 89, this lever being engaged by thepin 90 which projects from the rear end of the platen. As the platen israised, the free end of the lever is pushed upwardly to retract the pawl91. The return of the solenoid plunger to its normal position permitsthe return of the actuating lever under the tension of its spring 92,thus to advance the ribbon after each impression.

I have, I think, sufficiently pointed out the operation of the mechanismin connection with the description of the apparatus itself and I shallnot, therefore, review the matter.

It will be apparent that with thecircuit arrangement of Fig. 2, thewhole apparatus, including the clock, the time circuit-controller andthe printing attachment, may be mounted in a portable case and taken toany place at which it is desired torecord the watt meter readings. It isonly necessary to add the small commutator and brushes to the watt meterwhose measurements are to be recorded.

lVhile I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it will beapparent that many variations may be made without departing from thespirit thereof. I do not mean, however, to limit myself to the precisedetails heretofore described.

The scope of my invention is rather indicated by the following claims.

1. In combination, a time-controlled disk, make-and-break mechanism,means on said disk for determining Whether said makeand-break mechanismshall operate, a printing wheel, an electromagnet controlled by saidmake-and-break mechanism for effecting the printing operation, a rotarydisk controlled by said electromagnet, and means on said last-mentionedrotary disk for determining whether or not said printing Wheel shall beadvanced.

2. In combination, a time-controlled element, make-and-break mechanism,means on said element for determining Whether said make-and-breakmechanism shall operate, printing mechanism, an electromagnet controlledby said make-and-break mechanism for effecting the printing operation, arotary element controlled by said electromagnet, and means on saidrotary element for determining whether or not said printing mechanismshall be operated.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 29th day ofDecember, A. D. 1910.

CHESTER I. HALL.

Witnesses:

LEONARD E. BOGUE, ARTHUR H. BOETTGI-IER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

